Liverpool's Draw with Forest: Fight but No Control
Anfield heard the roar again, but not the result it craves.
Liverpool were forced to come from behind twice in a breathless 2-2 draw with Forest on Saturday, a point that did little to ease the strain of a winless league start under Andoni Iraola. The character was there. The control was not. And Alexander Isak was in no mood to pretend otherwise.
The Swedish striker, who dragged Liverpool level on the hour, cut through the noise when he spoke afterwards. The fight, he insisted, is not the issue.
“I think there's no problem in fighting spirit and never giving up. I think we showed that last week as well,” he told TNT Sports, before turning the spotlight on the real concern. Liverpool keep losing their grip just when they seem ready to take charge.
“Obviously we started the game pretty bad today as well. When we gained momentum by scoring a goal, that's where we need to be better, I think, because again today we conceded quite quickly after that.”
Slow start, sharp punishment
Iraola’s Liverpool began flat. The early tempo he demands simply wasn’t there. Passes went astray, the press lacked bite, and Forest sensed an opportunity.
Midway through the first half, Dan Ndoye took it. His finish stunned Anfield and exposed a backline that still looks uncertain in transition. The stadium fell quiet, the home side struggling to stitch together any kind of rhythm.
The response eventually came after the break. Isak, carrying the burden of being the focal point of this new era, struck on the hour with the kind of clinical edge Liverpool are banking on. Anfield erupted, the energy flipped, and for a brief spell the Reds looked ready to surge.
The momentum didn’t last.
Forest hit back almost immediately, Morgan Gibbs-White restoring the visitors’ lead from the penalty spot and underlining exactly what Isak had warned about: Liverpool’s inability to consolidate when they finally claw their way back into games.
A late rally salvaged a draw, but not the sense of unease.
Isak’s burden up front
Isak knows why he is here. He is not hiding from it.
Asked whether he feels a greater responsibility this season, the former Newcastle striker was blunt: “Yeah, of course. That's the job ultimately as a striker. Obviously I'm very happy to score the first one and hopefully it just keeps coming.”
He refused to dress it up as anything more than that. No grand targets, no talk of records. Just the basic, unforgiving currency of his position.
“Not really. I think every striker wants to score in every game he plays,” he said, brushing aside the idea of personal milestones. The message was clear: goals matter, but they mean little if Liverpool keep letting leads and lifelines slip away at the other end.
Life under Iraola still in flux
The tension at Anfield is not just about results. It is about identity.
Liverpool are still trying to morph from what they were into what Iraola wants them to be: aggressive, high-intensity, tactically drilled to squeeze opponents in every phase. Right now, it looks like a work in progress rather than a finished product.
Isak did not shy away from that reality but backed the process.
“It's been good. There's always time to get used to a new playing style and a new manager. But we are really working hard to try to play the game he wants us to play and I think when we start doing that better, I have no doubt that the results will come,” he said.
The idea is clear. The execution is not—at least not yet. Moments of attacking quality are being undercut by defensive frailty, especially on the break, where Liverpool look far too open for a side with top-end ambitions.
Anfield still behind them
If there was one element that did not waver, it was the crowd.
Back at Anfield, Liverpool’s players were met with the familiar wall of noise, and even as the performance stuttered, the backing stayed fierce. Isak felt it immediately.
“It was amazing. I think our fans were amazing. Really happy to be back here at home and I can't wait to be back here again,” he said, clearly energised by the Kop despite the frustration of another missed opportunity.
The bond between team and supporters remains strong. The question is how long patience will hold if the results don’t catch up with the rhetoric and the running.
Liverpool now head to Ipswich Town in midweek, still chasing their first league win under Iraola and still searching for a defensive structure worthy of the attacking talent in front of it. The fight is there. The style is coming. But how long can a club with “lofty ambitions” live in that in-between?
